Did COVID-19 Originate In China? “We must move beyond the temptation to give nationality to diseases.”

Italian Experts Praise China's Anti-virus Efforts, Dismiss U.S. News Host's Call for Apology from China"

By Xinhua

A woman wearing a face mask is seen in the subway in Milan, Italy, March 2, 2020.(Photo by Daniele Mascolo/Xinhua)

Italian experts have praised China’s anti-virus efforts while dismissing a U.S. Fox News television host’s calling for a “formal apology” from China for the coronavirus outbreak.

Last Monday, U.S. Fox News host Jesse Watters demanded China apologize for the virus outbreak.

However, the fact that China first reported the virus outbreak doesn’t necessarily make it the virus’s origin. The WHO has said the spread of the virus is a global issue and that research to track the source of the coronavirus is still underway.

“I think we have to move beyond the temptation to give nationality to diseases,” said Massimo Galli, a biomedical professor and head of the infectious diseases section at the L. Sacco Hospital in Milan.

“I was on a conference call with researchers in China just this morning and believe me, they are doing everything they can do to confront this problem, sharing the results of research and strategies with complete openness,” he said.

With some 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Italy is among the countries most heavily hit outside China.

Fabrizio Pregliasco, a researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health at the University of Milan, said,

“I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by pointing fingers or trying to assign blame.”

“I would be much more interested in knowing that the kind of behavior that allowed the virus to spread so quickly is being addressed,” he said, adding, “it would be helpful to hear ‘Lesson learned.'”

Pregliasco noted that in recent weeks, China’s scientists and political leaders have made efforts to help the world understand the coronavirus and contain its spread.

On China’s fight against the coronavirus, Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the San Martino Hospital in the Italian port city of Genoa, said, “They have been successful.”

Concerning the coronavirus outbreak, Gian Franco Gallo, a political risk analyst with ABS Securities, said,

“This is a global problem.”

“Ebola started in Africa, the Spanish flu was first found in the United States. The next one could start in Europe. The world has to work together to solve these global problems,” he said.